Najib wants Malaysia to have best race relations in the world

By Clara Chooi - The Malaysian Insider

CHERAS, Oct 11 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak pitched his “1 Malaysia” concept to Malaysians again today, saying that he hoped it would turn the nation into a highly developed one in terms of race relations.

“If we can focus on improving and strengthening the relationship between the races, Malaysia can become the most successful country in terms of race relations, in comparison with other nations.

“This is my hope because we have a big future ahead of us. Let’s pray that we will continue our cooperation with the 1 Malaysia mindset,” he told a crowd of more than 1,000 gathered for a 1 Malaysia Hari Raya open house at the Sri Melaka flats in Bandar Tun Razak here this evening.

Najib added that the government could not treat lightly the importance of strengthening the relationship between the races for it could turn into a problem that could topple what Barisan Nasional had already built throughout the years.

The “1 Malaysia” concept, he added, was not a new one, but one that was merely rebranded in a bid to continue the efforts of the country’s forefathers.

“It is not a strange concept that I introduced. It is merely a continuation of what our forefathers had already kick-started, dating back to the time of Datuk Onn Jaafar, the founder of Umno; Tunku Abdul Rahman; and even my father Tun Abdul Razak who expanded Parti Perikatan to create the Barisan Nasional that exists today.

“They, too, prioritised the building of national unity as the main pillar of growth to develop the country,” he said.

He said that during the rule of Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the nation’s longest-serving premier had created the concept of “Bangsa Malaysia”, which was similar to 1 Malaysia.

“Bangsa Malaysia is not about ‘bangsa Melayu’, ‘bangsa Cina’ or ‘bangsa India’. It is about all,” he said.

Najib also assured the Malay-centric crowd at the open house that he would not be taking the rights of the Malays and distributing them freely to the Chinese and the Indians.

“No, it is not about that. The Malays will get their rights. And the Chinese and the Indians, too, will be given fair consideration for theirs,” he said.

He cited the New Economic Policy as an example of how rights were “fairly distributed”.

“The policy states, for example, that eradication of poverty should be done regardless of race,” he said.

Najib added that if Malaysians could truly understand the concept of “1 Malaysia”, they could embrace their differences and regard it as “unique” instead of a source for problems.